


Charley Pollard: The Girl Who Never Was (nb Charley fic)

by yellowbessie



Category: Doctor Who (Big Finish Audio)
Genre: Gen, Nonbinary Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-11
Updated: 2015-11-11
Packaged: 2018-05-01 04:31:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 459
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5192438
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yellowbessie/pseuds/yellowbessie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Have you considered nb Eight and nb Charley? Because I have.</p><p>It’s AU week for Eight/Charley month. But, I don’t usually come up with AUs. So, here’s something that’s (depending on your viewpoint): canon, my headcanon, or a canon-twisting UA.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Charley Pollard: The Girl Who Never Was (nb Charley fic)

You once met a girl on Earth. And a boy in an airship over France.  
It was the same meeting.

She called you the oddest man she’d ever met.  
Except you weren’t really a man. And she (though a _she_ ) wasn’t exactly a girl.

The topic came up sometimes, during the conversations that filled the still hours when you were both unable to sleep. 

* * *

‘They want me to be a _lady!’_ she rolled her eyes dramatically.

'No!’ you gasped feigning shock. 'Charlotte Pollard, I have met many ladies in my day, and can assure you, you are nothing like them.’

'Thank you, Doctor,’ she grinned, 'I believe that’s the nicest thing you’ve said to me.’

Your tea cups clinked in merry agreement.

* * *

'They made me wear dresses! Yuck, I hate dresses!’

'Dresses are lovely,’ you countered.

‘Okay, fine. Sometimes, they’re nice. But, not when you _have_ to wear them.’

'You’ll find the same is true for trousers, unfortunately. Or anything you _have_ to do.’

She pouted and grumbled, ‘There’s a lot you _have_ to do.’

‘Not here,’ you reminded her gently. ‘Not with me.’

* * *

'I like “Charley.” It’s a girl’s name but also a boy’s name. It could be either, or both or neither.’

'One could say the same about “Doctor.”’

You shared the shy smile of two outsiders who had finally found each other.

How refreshing to meet a human who didn’t argue, 'Look at you. Of course you’re a man.’ 

She didn’t laugh at your nightgowns or mock your love of butterflies. No, Charley understood. And you understood her. 

* * *

You never wanted to hurt her. But, Zagreus stole your voice and used it to taunt her, each time drawing out the word 'Girl!’ like the insult it was meant to be.

 _I told you,_ **girl** , I am not the Doctor!…  
Where are you? Where are you, **girl**?…  
Curse you, **girl**! 

You tried to explain afterwards, but she brushed off your attempts at apology. ‘I knew it wasn’t you, Doctor. You would never do that to me.’

* * *

She’d gone, but left you a note at the front desk.

You read her goodbye letter in a black mood. It hurt to lose her and you were angry at yourself over the circumstances. 

But a small part of you brightened at the evidence of her new self-acceptance, her new flaunting of society’s rules: ‘ _I can go anywhere, be anyone I want.’_

‘You can,’ you muttered in vehement support that she no longer needed. _  
_

‘ _With love,’_ she’d signed, ‘ _The girl who never was_.’

You whispered to yourself, and to her - somewhere in the Universe - 'The girl who never was. The lady who never will be. But ever and always my Edwardian Adventuress. Good luck. Be brilliant. I know you will be.’


End file.
